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Table of Contents
The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 3
  • 10 January
  • 19 January
  • 20 January
  • 22 January
  • 26 January
  • 27 January
  • 30 January
  • 3 February
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  • Conversation with Butler on 18 March 1940
  • 19 March
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  • Conversation with Halifax on 27 March 1940
  • 28 March
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© 2025
8 June
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By Liakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)

The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 2

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8 June
Halifax invited me to see him today and informed me of the British government’s decision to send Strang to Moscow. The motives for the decision are as follows: Seeds has been out of touch with the Foreign Office for many months and is poorly informed about the present mood and wishes of the British government. Halifax wanted to summon him to London for instruction, but Seeds went down with the flu. It was therefore decided to send Strang to Moscow to assist and brief Seeds. Besides, the British government finds that the method of exchanging notes which has been practised hitherto leads to misunderstandings and wasted time. Meanwhile, the dangerous international situation renders haste essential. For this reason, the British government would like to have a ‘round-table conference’ in Moscow. The British representative at the conference will be Seeds, while Strang will prove a good assistant. Out of all this eloquence, one thing was clear to me: the Foreign Office considers Seeds poorly qualified for serious negotiations and is sending Strang as reinforcement. Well, let them!
Halifax made three comments concerning the Soviet proposals of 2 June:


Page 559

(1) The British government acknowledges as entirely rightful our wish to receive a guarantee for our n[orth]-w[estern] border, and is ready to meet us halfway in this respect, but finds it undesirable to name Latvia, Estonia and Finland directly in the agreement (paragraph 1 in the Soviet proposals). These countries do not want a guarantee, and it is undesirable to create the impression that the tripartite bloc is imposing a guarantee upon them.
(2) The British government has grave doubts about paragraph 6 of our proposals (whereby the pact and the military agreement will enter into force simultaneously), as this would entail a major delay in the completion of negotiations. It would be desirable to publish at least a preliminary communiqué as soon as agreement is reached on the essence of the problem.
(3) Paragraph 5 of our proposals (undertakings not to conclude a separate peace, etc.) also raises some doubts. War objectives must be taken into consideration here. But Halifax did not dwell on this point and only said that he thought it would be easy to reach agreement on this matter.
Halifax reckons that Strang will be able to leave for Moscow on 12 or 13 June.
[Ironically, Maisky would henceforth be increasingly removed from the negotiations, warily conducted by Molotov in Moscow at the same time as feelers were put out to Germany. Halifax was reluctant to have the talks in London, as he doubted whether Maisky ‘would be given any latitude in negotiating’. Indeed, on the recommendation of Seeds, Maisky was no longer briefed by the Foreign Office about the course of the negotiations.
TNA FO 371 23067 C8097/3356/18; DDF, 2 Serie, XVI, Doc. 422, Naggiar to Bonnet, 14 June 1939.
A noticeable dissonance could now be felt. While Maisky evinced confidence in the prospects for concluding an agreement, Molotov remained sceptical and his attitude hardened. Maisky played down the obstacles and was ‘inclined to think’, as he wrote to Kollontay, that the alliance would be formed ‘in the not-too-distant future’. He likewise told Lloyd George’s son ‘that there was nothing to worry about for … [the British] Government had been gradually moving towards what the Russians wanted … He was quite confident … that agreement would be reached. He said our Government has now come 75% of the way & are bound to come the whole 100%.’ He told the Webbs that the agreement would be ‘settled and signed this week or next’.
RAN f.1702 op.4 d.111 l.20, 31 May; Lloyd George papers, LG/G/130, Gwilym Lloyd George to his father, 1 June 1939; Webb, diary, 12 June, p. 6665. He gave that same impression to the correspondent of the New York Times, 31 May, and as late as 24 June 1939.
It is striking that, at his meeting with Halifax on 8 June, Maisky was still convinced that negotiations were progressing along the right tracks and even spoke in ‘warm appreciation’ of Strang and his mission. From Paris, the other survivor of Litvinov’s protégés, Surits, shared Maisky’s optimism, informing Molotov that ‘no one here even considers it possible that the talks with us might break down and fail to result in an agreement’.
SPE, doc. 332.
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Document Details
Document Title8 June
AuthorLiakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)
RecipientN/A
RepositoryN/A
ID #N/A
DescriptionN/A
Date1939 Jun 8
AOC VolumeThe Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 2
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